Sleeping garment



Dec. 8, 1942. E. R. BOOTS SLEEPINQ GARMENT Filed June 5, 1941 IINVENTOR. W4. M 7W roe/v0 Patented Dec. 8, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE SLEEPING GARMENT. Edmund R. Boots, short Hills, N. J. Applicationrune 5, 1941; Serial 80-396375 '1 claim. (01. 2-114 The invention hereindisclosed relates" .to a sleeping garment that is especially suited forretaining an anti-snore medium at the back of the wearer while thewearer of the garment is sleeping.

In the co-pending application Ser. No. 368,444 filed December 4, 1940,there is disclosed an antisnore device that is adapted to prevent the.wearer from sleeping on his back. This device consists of a ballarranged to be loosely secured to a sleeping garment and properlypositioned to preventthe wearer from sleeping on his back.

By the invention herein disclosed, there is provided a sleeping garmentconstructed to re.- tain an anti-snore medium properly positioned at theback of the wearer. Commonly, sleeping garments are made with amplematerial such that the waist portion, 1. e. the waist of pajamas hangsvery loosely about the body of the wearer. In accordance with theinvention herein disclosed, there is provided a sleeping garmentcomprising a waist portion with the back panel of which there isassociated means for retaining an anti-snore medium such for example asa rubber ball. As the garment is commonly a loosely fitting garment, theball when retained on the back panel is not firmly bound in position onthe back of the wearer. When the wearer is sleeping on his side, theball hangs towards the side on which he is sleeping. As the ball isretained in position by the back panel of the garment, the breathingorgans are not restrained and the wearer suffers no discomfort. As soon,however, as the wearer starts to move from his side to his back,thepanded;

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section similar to Fig. 2 of a modified form of the garment;

Fig. 6 is a similar section of another modified form of the garment; and

Fig. '7 is a sectional view taken along the line 1-1 of Fig. 6.

' sponge rubber ball of approximately two inches in diameter. ,Thepocket is formed with pleats as indicated at 3, in the nature of thepleating of an accordion, so that when there is nothing in the pocket itlies fiat against the back panel of the sleeping garment. Asillustrated, the pocket is preferably placed just below the shoulders Yand at the transverse center of the back panel.

\ or the body portion of a night shirt, is full and i The pocketillustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 is open at the top but is provided with anelastic upper edge 4. This elastic edge is expanded when ball 5 is putinto the pocket and contracts (Fig. 4) to retain the ball in the pocketonce it is placedtherein. When the ball is removed, the pocket folds andlies fiat against the back of the sleeping garment and is not felt bythe wearer.

In Fig. 5 a pocket 6 is illustrated that is provided with a cover flapI. The pocket is pleated to fold flat against the back of the sleepinggarment and the flap is similarly pleated as at 8 so that when thepocket is empty it folds into the pocket and the whole lies fiat againstthe back of the sleeping garment. A soft rubber button 9 is utilized tomaintain the flap closed.

Instead of a complete pocket, the receptacle may be formed from stripsas illustrated in Figs.

6 and 7. These include two cross straps l0 and H, the latter having anextension I! that is secured as by sewing to the back panel of thesleeping garment. The ends of the cross straps are secured together by acircular elastic strip or band l3. When a ball I4 is inserted in theholder thus provided, the circular band l3 contracts and holds the ballin the holder, the band when contracted being of a diameter smaller-thanthe ball.

A sponge rubber ball of thei size mentioned is comparatively light .inweight." As the sleeping garment is a loose fitting garment, there is nobody restriction of the wearer when the ball is in the pocket or holderand when the wearer is sleeping on his side, it hangs down toward theside on which he is sleeping. Thus, the ball is in a position to engagethe back of the wearer as he turns on to his back and presents anobstacle which keeps the wearer from turning on his back.

From the foregoing description of the embodiments of the inventionillustrated in the drawing, it will be seen that there is provided asleeping garment with which an anti-snore may or may not be used as thewearer finds desirable. This is an important feature as-it has beenfound that ii the ball is used for some time, the wearer gets out of thehabit of sleeping on his back. When this occurs its use may be omitteduntil the person again gets into the habit of sleeping on his back.

It will be obvious that various changes may be made by those skilled inthe art in the sleeping garments illustrated in the drawing anddescribed in detail above within the principle and scope of theinvention as expressed in the append claim.

I claim:

A sleeping garment comprising a waist portion .expansible receptacle andincluding an elastic edge at the opening to the pocket, whereby. the

pocket will receive a ball and the elastic edge will 1 retract andretain the ball within the pocket when the wearer is in recliningposition.

EDMUND R. BOOTS.

